It’s no secret that the biggest challenge for the Texas Rangers over the last two seasons has been the inconsistency at the plate. It has left a lot of doubters believing that the 2023 season was an outlier but with a fresh crop of hitting coaches leading the charge, they believe this group is just getting started.

Texas has gone through a carousel of hitting coaches recently after parting ways with Donnie Ecker early in the 2025 season and replacing him with Bret Boone for the remainder of the year. Now, they will head into 2026 with three coaches, led by 35-year-old Justin Viele.

Can Viele lead the Ragers back to offensive powerhouse?

Looking back at the team’s offensive numbers last year, it seems like Viele is set up to be unsuccessful. They finished the year ranked 25th in wRC+ (92), 26th in slugging (.381), 26th in batting average (.234), 26th in on-base percentage (.302), 22nd in runs (684) and 23rd in walk rate (8%).

A lot of that was hurt by the underperformances of Joc Pederson, Jake Burger, Josh Jung, Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien and Jonah Heim. The latter three are no longer in Texas after being non-tendered or in Semien’s case, being traded.

So far this offseason, they’ve added Brandon Nimmo, Danny Jansen and a collection of others who don’t try to do much. They expect Jansen to continue to get on base at a high clip, they hope Cody Freeman continues to put up great at-bats and drive the ball to every part of the field and they aren’t asking Jung to walk at a high clip.

While it’s easier said than done, the offensive strategy is quite simple. Viele and manager Skip Schumaker have said it many times this offseason. Keep it simple and don’t try and be a player you’re not.

“For example, we’re not expecting Cody Freeman to hit the ball 110 [exit velocity] to center field for homers, but we’re expecting him to make a lot of contact and be a tough at-bat,” Viele explained to MLB’s Kennedi Landry. “We’re not expecting [Josh Jung] to walk at 12%, but we’re expecting him to get hits and do some damage. What makes those guys feel the most confident is if we’re boosting what they do well, instead of always picking out what they don’t do well, playing to their strengths.”

These 3 Rangers’ players will need to be major producers in 2026

Viele, Alex Cintron and Eric Dorton will face their biggest challenge of getting Pederson, Burger and Jung back to doing what they do best.

Pederson, who hit a career low .181 with just nine home runs and 26 RBIs in 96 games during his first season with Texas. While there is a lot of work to do, I imagine Viele and his staff have a lot of faith in the multi All-Star returning to his old self.

Burger was struck with injuries, going to the IL three separate times in 2025. The 29-year-old hit .236 with

Jung will be a bit harder of a fix. After finishing fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2023, he was hampered by a broken wrist in 2024 and last season saw a lot of inconsistency that led to a stint in the minors.

“I want him to be feared once again.”

New Rangers manager Skip Schumaker wants the old Josh Jung to return to the lineup pic.twitter.com/hRIgdyJTQ3

— DLLS Rangers (@DLLS_Rangers) December 9, 2025